Project: Campus d'Espoir (Campus of Hope)
Client: Hope for the Children of Haiti
Architect: Studio Luz Architects—Hansy Better Barraza, Anthony J. Piermarini (project designers); James Smith, Rebecca Edson (project leaders); Michael Beaman, Il-Joong Kim, Jenny Kwon (project team)
Engineers: TECINA S.A. (engineering and construction); Sinote Ibrahim (consulting mechanical)
Site
An underdeveloped plot of land that is part of the planned expansion of the Bon Repos quarter of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Program
The master plan for the site includes an orphanage for 90 children, an educational facility to teach 400 students, a medical clinic to provide for the campus and the surrounding area, a trade school, and housing for employees and volunteers.
Solution
This project is designed to ensure that orphaned and neglected Haitian children will not only have a roof over their heads, but will also have a safe and loving home to grow up in. The master plan seeks to accomplish this by creating a village-like setting where the children and their caretakers have educational, recreational, and medical facilities at their fingertips.
To prevent isolation, and to try in some way to lessen the number of children who might need the campus' full-time services, the facilities are opened to the larger community. The complex itself offers a lesson in sustainable techniques. Solar panels provide electricity for hot water. Hurricane shutters are made of recycled aluminum. And the architects incorporated local materials, including rammed earth and gabion walls of native stone.
The goal is to set new standards for sustainable construction in a developing country with high unemployment and poverty rates that is prone to natural disasters.
The Architect

Firm: Studio Luz Architects, Boston
Principals: Anthony J. Piermarini, James Smith, Rebecca Edson, Hansy Better Barraza
Number of Designers: 5
Year Founded: 2002
Recent Work: St. Martin Street Residence, Fitchburg, Mass.